Paid software do have extra features over free antivirus, like anti-ransomeware component, or banking security, etc... so if you require them, or feel safer with them, you should go for paid ones, otherwise quality free antivirus like Avast are sufficient.
Among the paid ones, Kaspersky always has been amongst the top... apart from that Bitdefender, and Norton are good.
Even free version of Bitdefender is good, but it doesn't provide much options in terms of controlling the software, so I personally don't like it. But, if you want install and forget, then it's a good software.
McAfee is not up to the mark, neither is QuickHeal.
An antivirus which sells like hot cakes in computer shops and often recommended by people is NPAV, which is completely useless. It sells purely on the hype that people have built about it. Some of the people I know often recommend NPAV, and I just laugh inside
.